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Alejandra & Aeron, "Bousha Blue Blazes"
Music for grandmothers that most grandmothers would probably not like one bit.
Orthlong Musork
This disc from Alejandra & Aeron is an ode to grandmothers,dedicated specifically to and featuring the voice of Bousha, Aeron'sgrandmother. I know this: if I had recorded a record like this andgiven it to my grandmother, she would not have known what to make of itother than to conclude that I was a little "Off." Sometimes, even musicwith the best intentions falls on deaf ears because there's a culturalor generational boundary that people are unwilling to cross. Bousha Blue Blazesis likely to make a lot more sense to young, forward-listening peoplewho are reflecting on their own relationships with grandparents than itwill to grandparents themselves. What Alejandra & Aeron havecreated is a delicate lattice of live room recordings, faintinstruments, and occassional voices that recalls the hazy sun-soakedafternoons I spent with my grandmother as a child. Bits of sound hanglike dust in the air as the pair play and process and record fragmentsand then arrange them into structures that are held together by onlythe finest filaments of melody. The record plays almost like ahand-written letter composed to Bousha that I might have discovered inan estate sale some decades after Bousha, Alejandra and Aeron were alllong gone. These songs are intimate, delicate, and they are at oncelighter than air and soaked with the weight of memories and personalconnections. I know my own grandmother wouldn't know what to make ofthis record, but life's erosion from time is here in every movement ofspliced ambiance and in every whisp of guitar. It's a lovely testamentto grandmothers everywhere, and even if they don't understand it, maybegrandmothers everywhere are listening to this record and smiling.
This disc from Alejandra & Aeron is an ode to grandmothers,dedicated specifically to and featuring the voice of Bousha, Aeron'sgrandmother. I know this: if I had recorded a record like this andgiven it to my grandmother, she would not have known what to make of itother than to conclude that I was a little "Off." Sometimes, even musicwith the best intentions falls on deaf ears because there's a culturalor generational boundary that people are unwilling to cross. Bousha Blue Blazesis likely to make a lot more sense to young, forward-listening peoplewho are reflecting on their own relationships with grandparents than itwill to grandparents themselves. What Alejandra & Aeron havecreated is a delicate lattice of live room recordings, faintinstruments, and occassional voices that recalls the hazy sun-soakedafternoons I spent with my grandmother as a child. Bits of sound hanglike dust in the air as the pair play and process and record fragmentsand then arrange them into structures that are held together by onlythe finest filaments of melody. The record plays almost like ahand-written letter composed to Bousha that I might have discovered inan estate sale some decades after Bousha, Alejandra and Aeron were alllong gone. These songs are intimate, delicate, and they are at oncelighter than air and soaked with the weight of memories and personalconnections. I know my own grandmother wouldn't know what to make ofthis record, but life's erosion from time is here in every movement ofspliced ambiance and in every whisp of guitar. It's a lovely testamentto grandmothers everywhere, and even if they don't understand it, maybegrandmothers everywhere are listening to this record and smiling. samples:
